1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to carriers for ski equipment and, more particularly, to a collapsible carrier for transporting and protecting skis, ski poles and ski boots.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ski equipment, and in particular skis, ski poles and ski boots, is relatively heavy and quite cumbersome. Accordingly, snow skiers encounter considerable difficulty while transporting their equipment to and from the ski slopes. Such difficulty is aggravated by the relatively large distances, such as between most parking lots and hotel rooms and the slopes, over which the skiers must carry their equipment. A skier, in most situations, is faced with the unfortunate choice of carrying all the equipment at one time to or from the slopes or making several trips.
As a result, workers in the art have designed ski carriers to overcome the above-identified problem. Such carriers allow the skier to more conveniently carry all the equipment at once to or from the slopes. Examples of such carriers can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,114,915 (hereinafter "'915") and 4,131,289. However, the carrier disclosed in No. '915 illustrates a further problem. The skier must dispose of the carrier when the skier reaches the slopes. Although the elongated member of the '915 carrier telescopes, that carrier will not fit in the lockers available to skiers at the slopes of typical ski areas. When using carriers that will not fit in such lockers, the skier must leave the carrier unattended at the slope area, thereby exposing it to the weather and thieves.